Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-05-18
THE MESSENtER BOY.
THE PLEASURE OF WAITING A HALF
HOUR TO SEND A MESSAGE.

and Cold-From Ten to Twelve Hours
Work.
Whir. Whizz-izz-izz-zz-z! goes tbs
sail box, and you glance at the clock with
the comfortable assurance that the messenger
boy will be on hand in just three minutes.
You turn again to your letters, and your
faith in the service" being complete become
absorbed in the work before you, determined
to ELL those three minutes with as much earn
est endeavor as they are capable of holding.
The clock ticks on-your pen scratches in
dustriously across sheet after sheet of note
..per till You start up suddenly with the dim
consciousness that more than three minutes
have passed, and behold, fifteen Of these
feeting measurements of time have sped
across the face Of your dial. Murmuring
somewhat you step to the box and ring again,
this time with considerable emphasis on the
knob, and sit down to wonder how the 'ser-
vice" ever made its reputation for speed.
Another quarter of an hour slowly meas
ures itself upon the serene face of your Next
can onyx clock, and when you are about to
devise other means of trans porting your mes
sage the door bell rings, and a moment after
q 12-year-old boy, with cap in hand, is shown
into the room.
"What's the matter with you boys ever at
the officer You angrily demand
Boys all out, sir; lots o. calls in the office
tonight"
"Ah! Business is booming / suppose.
Meanwhile, have to wait half an hour to
send my message" This you remark with
strong flavor of sarcasm. Take this to No.
- Madison avenue"
GONE IN TRICE.
The boy is gone in a trice. Out into the
darkness. for it is after p. m, and, stin
worse, it is raining
Do you think it is a jolly thing to be a mes
senger boy? Well, did you ever picture to
yourself how pleasant it must be to run all
around the city for ten hours in the rain! II
may be only a slow, drilling rain, or it may be
a rain that falls IN sheets, with no respect for
either age or position, but drenching all alike,
sid and young, and rich and poor.
To be sure. he wears rubber coat outside
his uniform and rubber boots and cap but in
some manner the rain finds its way inside iii
spite of the plentiful waterproof, and in less
than half a day the boy is chilled through and
shivering with the damp and cold. But he
reaches Madison avenue and peers through
the car windows to find the numbers. But
the glass is all sparkling with rain drops, and
he sees only confused mass of bubbles, each
one throwing back shining ray from the
street lamp. But he gets out of the car.
crosses through the overlooking cutters to the
pavement and gazes up with st~,i' ing eyes
at the dark doors above him There are not
many lights on the street, and it is only occa-
sionally that feeble ray comes through the
4 III al ry1a Of
OF life within He hunts up and down the
street, ringing bells occasionally, but meeting
with no response. He takes out his message
and looks again at the address. 1t is two
blocks below
AWAY IN THE DARK.
So he hurries away in the dark, and the
rain still beats and beats increasingly.
In the office things are comfortable, and as
the night wears on calls become less frequent,
and the boys lounge around the huge fire in
the little back waiting room and tell stories
and play marbles and other games till the next
call or till their time is up
What are their hours! Sometimes from
a. m to p. M. sometimes from on q. m.
to the corresponding hour at night. They
nearly always work twelve hours, neve,' less
than ten
Their wagesa
All the way from So to IS per week ana
board and clothe themselves, for these boys
must buy their uniforms from the com panies
at a system of weekly payments, which are
always deducted from their wages
This is the recompense for ten hours hard
work, rude contact with the hardest side of
life. and loss of all educational advantages.
Moreover. even these few dollars do not go
to the boys own use, but are usually the
mainstay of family. Perhaps the mother
Is widow with little children depending on
her, or perhaps the father drinks, and the
boys earnings must pay the rent and ouy
the tre:ld-New York Graphic